Scottish witches remembered

Sunday

Oct 26, 2008 at 11:18 AM

Paul Kelbie

Scotland - An alliance of historians, modern witches, pagan practitioners and paranormal enthusiasts are calling for such a memorial to act as an apology, commemorate the dead and serve as a warning for future generations to guard against injustice.

'Many of those killed in one of the darkest chapters of Scottish history were the forerunners of today's herbalists, midwives, chemists and acupuncturists and practitioners of what we would call alternative therapies,' said Ewan Irvine, who launched the campaign on the back of efforts to clear the name of celebrated Dundee medium Helen Duncan - the last woman in Britain to be convicted of witchcraft in 1944.

However, despite a petition to the Scottish parliament, MSPs last month decided that a pardon for all of Scotland's witches would be inappropriate as 'the people were tried and convicted in the laws at the time'.

'Further, it may be particularly difficult to apply modern knowledge and concepts of morality to events which took place centuries ago,' said a parliamentary statement.

Faced with the prospect of their cause being consigned to the history books, Irvine and other supporters have begun consultations for a memorial in the form of a cairn or tree with a suitable plaque.

'It's definitely something I am supportive of,' said Pauline Reid, a practising witch who runs covens in Glasgow and Ayrshire. 'I've worked a lot in the past with the Pagan Federation in trying to get us recognised in the census, so anything that acknowledges witchcraft and helps to confirm that these people did nothing wrong is really important.'

Alyson Dunlop, the founder of Glasgow University's Pagan Society and who now runs Scotwitch, a Yahoo group for witches in Scotland, believes the memorial should be erected in Edinburgh, where so many executions took place.

'I think it is right that these people have their names cleared from being prosecuted in the name of religion even though many were Christians,' she said.

'Edinburgh would be the ideal location because it has strong links with historical witchcraft and there were a large number of executions there.'

Of the 4,000 or more people accused of witchcraft, at least 85 per cent were women and the majority, 32 per cent, were from the Lothians, followed by Strathclyde at 14 per cent and Fife with 12 per cent.

'Witches were mostly executed in their own localities or in the nearest town, but there's a significant concentration that were executed in Edinburgh on Castle Hill after being sent to trial,' said Julian Goodare, political historian at Edinburgh University.

'Scotland had one of the worst records of persecuting witches in Europe. Almost four times the European average.

'I always hesitate to use words like barbaric, because the people who did this regarded themselves as civilised, and some were as well educated as we are. That said, I'm not in favour at all of burning witches.'

John Macintyre, presiding officer of the Pagan Federation for Scotland, which is now the sixth largest non-Christian religion in Scotland, believes 'the main value of such a memorial would be as a reminder of the dangers of scapegoating innocent people when a society feels under pressure'.

Mary Martin, the granddaughter of Duncan, who was jailed for witchcraft after authorities feared she would reveal details of the D-Day invasion at one of her sťances, has added her support.

'It is a great idea,' said the 74-year-old from the Craigmillar district of Edinburgh. 'The Craigmillar area would be a good place to have the memorial because that's where Helen moved to from Aberdeen.'

She said that Duncan represented everyone who had suffered a similar or worse fate because of their beliefs.